How did I wake up in Topsy-Turvy Land? Yesterday, I found myself agreeing with BLM, today it’s with Daniel Andrews.
Now all it needs is for the people to walk upon their heads and the children to go to school by night.
But for now, I’ll leave it at saying the one thing I thought I’d never say:
Thank you, Daniel Andrews!
Former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has declared he is against Palestinian statehood at this current time and has stressed the importance of pushing back against “twisted logic” that brings legitimacy to terrorism.
This is the most forthright and morally salutary statement by a senior Labor leader since October 7 last year. It’s exactly the sort of statement Anthony Albanese and his government haven’t had the guts or basic decency to make. God knows, if they had, Australia might not be in the social quagmire it is right now, with anti-Semites openly bellowing their hatred on the streets and literally from the rooftop of Parliament House.
“I think that the atrocities of October 7 have been forgotten by too many and condemned by too few.”
Credit where it’s due: Andrews is at last doing the right thing.
Speaking at a Labor Friends of Israel event on Thursday night, the ex-state Labor leader said Israel not only has no partner for peace, but an “actively hostile opponent”.
“I do not at this time support a recognition of a Palestinian state. That is not to say that recognition of a Palestinian state is something that should never occur,” Mr Andrews told the congregation at the Beth Israel synagogue in St Kilda.
“But at this time, I do not believe that that is a productive step forward. You can only have peace if you have a partner in this … there is an actively hostile opponent who some people tend to try and convince themselves will only if there is a recognition suddenly (they will) become an active partner in a peaceful outcome for the region, the children, for Jews, Palestinians, for everybody.
“That, of course, is nonsense. That makes no sense to me whatsoever.”
Andrews also took a veiled swipe at the Greens and too many in federal Labor (especially the raft of senior MPs and ministers whose seats are dependent on heavily-Muslim Western Sydney).
“I think that the atrocities of October 7 have been forgotten by too many and condemned by too few,” Mr Andrews said.
“We have not called out those who would seek to dismiss that would seek to wash over that, and that is wrong […]
“If the light forward to peace and the way forward to a better future is to somehow let the rampant anti-Semitism slide, to stop pushing back and standing up against that Well, I won’t be part of that.
“I think that all of us need to be much more vocal, we need to be much clearer. We need to make it very clear that the anti-Semitism that we are seeing, that the Jewish community are experiencing today is evil, it’s pure evil.”
Not only is Andrews the most senior Labor figure to outright condemn anti-Semitism, he’s also indelibly associated with Labor’s socialist left faction. He’s admirably calling out the moral failings of his factional colleagues.
He declared Hamas is a terrorist organisation and are “not about peace”.
“It is important that we push back against some of the rhetoric and some of the twisted logic that tries to bring legitimacy to terrorism.”
Mr Andrews said he is a steadfast supporter of the Jewish community and friend of the state of Israel as it is the only democracy in the region.
So, there it is. Whoever thought we’d live to see the day where I’d write:
Well done, Dan Andrews.
